Thick as Thieves
Ratings42
Average rating4
I reviewed this series as a whole under the final volume, [b:Return of the Thief 40650301 Return of the Thief (The Queen's Thief, #6) Megan Whalen Turner https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603971521l/40650301.SY75.jpg 16439607].
Is this a filler story? Yes.
Is this enjoyable? Hell Yes!!!
This is by far my favourite book of the series till now (first one was my favourite otherwise).
The adventures of Costa and Kamet!
4.5 starsThis book restored my faith in Megan Whalen Turner. After [b:A Conspiracy of Kings 6527841 A Conspiracy of Kings (The Queen's Thief, #4) Megan Whalen Turner https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1295475418l/6527841.SY75.jpg 6719799], I was unsure of her ability to recapture the magic of Books 2 & 3, but she successfully did so here. It's still not quite as good but it very nearly is. Kamet is as complex and compelling a character as Eugenides and Attolia. Unlike Sophos, I wasn't bothered by his narrative.TL;DR: Megan Whalen Turner restored my faith in these characters. In Book4 it was hard to tell the difference between them and their enemies but in this book, it once again became clear why they were the ones I was rooting for and not the Medeans. I was also reminded of why I didn't mind Eugenides' more cruel actions in Book 2 & 3, while being disturbed by Sophos'. While Gen is often manipulative, he is never overtly violent. He also always tempers his more cruel actions with kindness and the acknowledgement of his own wrong. In [b:The King of Attolia 40159 The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3) Megan Whalen Turner https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1293505327l/40159.SY75.jpg 847545], when he arrests Sejanus and exiles Dite in the fall of Erondites, he feels remorseful for their personal destruction but acknowledges that it was a necessary evil. “I'm sorry, Dite.” Dite shrugged away the apology. “You have spared my brother when you could have killed him and you have offered me an escape from the cesspit of my family and this court. You know what it means to me, to make music in the court of Ferria. You've put a purse and an impossible dream in my hand. I don't know why you should apologize.” “Because I am exiling you, Dite. I intend to raze your patrimony and salt its earth. You emphatically do not need to thank me.”“It isn't revenge, Sejanus,” said this new incarnation of the king. “I wouldn't destroy an entire house to destroy one man. But I would destroy a man to destroy a house. Your brother will be exiled, your house will fall, not because I happen to hate you, but because Erondites controls more land, and more men, than any four other barons, stacked together and has proved to be dangerous over and over. Its very existence is a threat to the throne. It will not survive,” he said again. Also, we never see him execute anyone on-page, we are vaguely aware that he will have to as king ( he says so over and over again), but we never see it happen. In fact, we see him pardon people who likely should according to the traditions of that time, have been executed.In the same way, when Kamet arrives he apologises to him for taking away his dream of wielding immense power as the emperor's head slave. He said, “I've taken something from you that I had no right to take. As Laela did. I hope you will forgive us both.” .As Relius said “He's very tenderhearted,” said Relius. “He'll feel quite bad about it as he cuts you up into little pieces and feeds you to wolves.” . Perhaps as a reader, it made it easier to swallow Gen's occasional cruelty because it was so often tempered with kindness. But I also like to think that until Book 4, it had always seemed neither unnecessarily violent nor cruel. In this book, I returned to feeling like in a cruel and often barbaric world, our characters were doing the best they could to cause as little harm as possible.
Thoughts / Review on TaT:
So before I start TaT, there's something that's been nagging me about CoK...(I'm not sure if this has been mentioned/discussed before, I only read the most recent post on r/queensthief about chapters 21 – 23).
Did anyone else feel worried after finishing CoK? In the last few chapters, we realize Eugenides's plan of becoming the King of Kings (which was so nicely foreshadowed in the last sentence of KoA), Eugenides is still getting treated by physicians for some mystery ailment, and there's Sophos' blind faith in Eugenides
For some reason, that last exchange really sticks out to me and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Specifically:
1) When Sophos and Gen are talking about the people of Eddis being mad at Eugenides and
2) When Sophos is explaining to Gen why he went to Oneia and then Gen says “I see.”
3) (this wasn't in the last chapter but) when Gen and Helen are seeing off Sophos, and this exchange occurs: “Helen...you sent me to Attolia. She stiffened....we do what we must, but we are not defined by our circumstances”.
Before delving into these 3 points, I want to backtrack a little.
In KoA, when Irene is talking to Relius, she tells him that Gen is afraid of failing and stealing Irene's power from her. But I think Gen's fear may have more to do with whatever the gods have planned, because later on, drunk Gen tells Coastis that he's drinking to bury the truth and that it's the first time he's “caught in something that he can't get out of...because [he] doesn't want out of it” and he's “terrified that if they know how much [he] hates it, they might take it away”.
Upon first glance it's like “yeah, Gen's worried about the responsibilities he'll have as Attolis” (remember that scene in QoA, when he visited the amputees?), but Gen probably knew or figured he'd have to become the Annux (King of Kings) – from the gods? – and I think he's worried about the responsibilities/repercussions associated with attaining that power and potentially losing the friendship of the few people who he actually cares about (like having to manipulate Sophos to swear fealty to him). But at the same time, he doesn't not want to have the power (?)
Whatever the case is, Eugenides knows some things – Helen mentioned as much to Sophos in CoK (“I believe that the veil for [Eugenides] is always thin, and that he walks through the world gingerly”) – and its interesting to note Gen's various roles: as Thief, as Attolis, as Annux (whenever Helen declares her loyalty to Attolis).
Okay, so back to CoK. I think there's some larger plot that the gods have planned, and I feel like the clues are there, but I can't put my finger on it... so: the rest of this analysis might be a stretch (please call me out on it if that's the case HAHAHA).
When Gen reminds Helen that she sent him to Attolia and the fact that she stiffened – I think there's some other realization in this this seemingly innocuous reaction...I didn't think much of it initially, but there's the fact that Gen's ancestor building the library in Attolia, and Gen is still the Thief...and Helen tells Sophos everything – I feel like there's more to this statement than was revealed .-.
So after Helen tells Sophos everything, Eugenides mentions that the people of
This might be a stretch:
- If I recall correctly, in QoA we're told that Helen sent Eugenides, he warned her against sending him, but she still decided to send him and then his hand got cut off.
- Also, remember in QoA, Helen figured Eugenides lost favour with the gods, and then Gen called on the gods for a conversation and we're given the impression that things are happening for a reason (I think the goddess who visited him said that he hasn't lost favour?).
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2020-06-30: ngl last 2 chapters really did me in...had to stop reading for 10 minutes
